Nigeria’s roads, the vital arteries of commerce and connectivity, are plagued by accidents that claim thousands of lives every year. However, a deeper dive into the 2024 data uncovers a frightening secondary peril: the deadly rush to scoop fuel from overturned tankers. This practice, driven by economic desperation amidst skyrocketing fuel prices, has become a silent killer—exacerbating fatalities and unleashing long-term environmental and health crises.
According to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), 411 Nigerians lost their lives in fuel scooping incidents in 2024. This represents 7.6% of the nation’s total road traffic fatalities, which stood at 5,421. These statistics, drawn from nationwide crash reports, highlight how an initial tanker accident spirals into catastrophe when bystanders, lured by the prospect of cheap fuel, ignore the inherent dangers.
The FRSC’s 2024 performance report, released in January 2025, paints a broader picture of road safety challenges in Nigeria. While overall road traffic crashes dropped by 10% to 9,570 from 10,617 in 2023, fatalities rose by 7%. Injuries decreased slightly from 31,874 to 31,154. Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed pointed out that while reckless driving, overloading, and fatigue are primary culprits, secondary behaviors like fuel scooping are amplifying the toll. “Out of the total fatalities in 2024, 411 deaths 7.6% were not primarily caused by the crashes but by secondary factors such as fuel scooping,” Mohammed explained during a press briefing in Abuja.
These figures were corroborated by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which reported 2,662 crashes and 1,471 deaths in Q1 2024 alone. This paints a grim picture of how avoidable actions turn survivable incidents into mass tragedies.
Tanker overturns, which often trigger scooping incidents, can be attributed to mechanical failures, poor road conditions, and overloading issues that are rampant across Nigeria’s highways. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), road traffic injuries remain a significant global health problem, with 1.35 million deaths annually. Africa bears a disproportionate share of this burden, with a mortality rate of 26.6 deaths per 100,000 population, far exceeding Europe’s rate of 9.3.
In Nigeria, road traffic fatalities are a major concern. WHO’s 2018 Global Status Report on Road Safety estimated that approximately 40,000 Nigerians die each year in road traffic accidents. Tanker-related explosions are particularly lethal, with petrol tankers often at the center of these deadly incidents.
In 2020, the FRSC documented 1,531 petrol tanker crashes, resulting in 535 deaths and 1,142 injuries. Many of these crashes were linked to post-crash fuel siphoning—an incredibly dangerous practice that further amplifies the risks. “Unregulated driving hours, overloaded tankers, and inadequate safety inspections are major contributors to accidents,” noted FRSC Sector Commander Steve Ayodele in Benue State.
Fuel scooping doesn’t only result in immediate fatalities; it causes profound long-term damage. Victims often endure life-threatening burns, as seen in the October 2024 disaster in Jigawa State. An overturned tanker exploded in Majiya town, killing 153 people, many of whom were villagers scooping petrol in the dark. Over 100 were severely burned in the inferno.
Similarly, a January 2025 explosion in Niger State’s Suleja killed 86 people, with 52 others suffering burns as crowds used generators to siphon fuel, igniting the blaze. Between October 2024 and January 2025, 300 deaths were reported from such incidents, underscoring the lethal consequences of economic hardship driving people to take deadly risks. The incidents highlight how scooping fuels are transforming avoidable accidents into mass homicides.
The FRSC reports that fuel scooping is responsible for hundreds of fatalities, with victims often “burnt beyond recognition” in the aftermath of these explosions. This calls attention to the urgent need for better enforcement of traffic regulations and community awareness to reduce these deadly practices.
The environmental fallout from tanker explosions and fuel spills is equally alarming. Fuel spills contaminate soil, water, and air, wreaking havoc on local ecosystems. Inhaling fuel fumes can cause respiratory issues and skin irritation, while broader pollution contributes to acid rain and biodiversity loss. In the Niger Delta, home to substantial oil reserves, the environmental consequences of frequent oil spills are well-documented. A 2021 study in the Journal of Environmental Management revealed that these spills release an estimated 40 million liters of crude oil annually, introducing carcinogenic and toxic compounds into the environment.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has highlighted the destruction of mangrove forests in Ogoniland due to oil spills. Mangroves play a crucial role in protecting coastal ecosystems and supporting local fisheries, which millions of people depend on for their livelihoods. The loss of these vital ecosystems severely impacts food security and local economies.
Beyond the Niger Delta, other regions in Nigeria, like Benue, are also suffering from oil tanker-related accidents. The NBS reported that 1,095 tanker-related crashes occurred in the first quarter of 2022 alone, many of which resulted in severe soil degradation, harming crops like yam and cassava. These long-term agricultural impacts pose significant risks to local food security and economic stability.
In response to the rising dangers, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has introduced several regulatory measures. These include mandatory anti-spill valves, speed limiters on tankers, and a color-coding system to distinguish different types of fuel. The NMDPRA has also set a limit on tanker capacity, aiming to reduce overloading by restricting tankers larger than 60,000 liters from March 2025.
Despite these efforts, challenges remain. The FRSC’s “Operation Zero Tolerance” in 2024 led to the arrest of 21,580 offenders, reflecting a 26% improvement in compliance. However, as Emmanuel Ogbanje, the FRSC State Coordinator for Benue, emphasized, preventing fuel scooping requires a cultural shift towards regular vehicle inspections and strict adherence to traffic laws.
The WHO’s 2023 report ranks Nigeria among high-fatality nations, citing poor enforcement and infrastructure as key obstacles to road safety improvement. A study conducted by Taylor & Francis on southwestern Nigeria revealed the fragmentation of traffic data systems, which further complicates efforts to respond uniformly to road safety issues.
The call to action is clear: Nigeria must adopt a holistic approach to address fuel scooping and road safety. This includes:
Stricter enforcement of regulations on tanker capacity, speed limits, and safety checks.
Public education campaigns on the dangers of fuel scooping and the long-term environmental consequences.
Investment in infrastructure, including the repair of dilapidated roads and better regulation of the fuel distribution system, particularly through the revival of rail transport for petroleum products.
Community collaboration to foster a culture of road safety and discourage reckless behavior, such as fuel scooping, which turns avoidable accidents into mass tragedies.
The 2024 tanker explosions in Jigawa and Niger States exemplify the ongoing cycle of poverty, peril, and pollution in Nigeria. With over 5,000 road deaths and 411 of them directly related to fuel scooping, Nigeria needs urgent, data-driven interventions to address these interconnected crises.
As Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed affirmed, these are not just numbers: “Lives lost, families torn apart.”
